BP’s $4.2 Billion Profit Beats Forecasts

To say that BP is doing very well financially may be a gross understatement. That’s because the oil giant has reported first-quarter profit of $4.2 billion after adjustment for inventory changes and one-off items. The performance handily beat analysts’ forecasts. Even though profit was 11 percent lower than the same quarter last year, Peter Hutton, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets in London, called the report “a very positive set of results.” BP had earned 30 percent more than analysts’ forecasts, according to Hutton, because of start-ups in Angola and Norway and better performance in Trinidad. Hutton also said costs had been lower than expected.

Chief executive, Robert W. Dudley, said in a statement that “these strong first-quarter results demonstrate the progress BP is making.” As expected, he said there was a reduced fall in production in the United States. The company is trying to bring back its core deepwater production in the Gulf of Mexico after the 2010 disaster. Production in the first quarter, 2.3 million barrels a day, was down about 5 percent compared with the first quarter of 2012 and roughly half the output of ExxonMobil. In 2009, BP’s production was 4 million barrels per day, which was comparable to Exxon Mobil’s. Based on reports, BP is more dependent on the Gulf of Mexico for high-margin oil than is any other company.